The Japan Trip Resource Thread!

[kryss]

I LUV roast dinners... I like the amount of space we have on our streets and in our homes, etc... Most of all I LUV our slutty girls in this country!

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- Learn to cook!
- There are plenty of wide open spaces if you want to find them.
- My apartment there was twice the size of my current one in Canada (and about the same price).
- The western-themed pubs are full of girls who like the foreign D.

[DeathAdder]

An excellent carvery is to be had at the Meguro Tavern.

[Dogg Thang]

Apparently I misheard when my daughter was watching it and it is hana-kappa... anyway you can find it with はなかっぱ.

Other things that are very popular are the characters on a show called 'okaasan to issho' (together with mother) which is like a jackanory type deal with human presenters that sing and dance alongside characters in big suits. They do a stage show that I had the privilege of attending last year. You can search for わんわん (wan-wan), コッシー (kosshi), サボさん (sabo-san), and it should pop up.

Hey Darwock, I met someone who worked at NHK yesterday and he was stunned that I knew of Hana-Kappa. So I have you to thank for that. He was telling me Shaun the Sheep does very well there! That was a bit of a surprise.

[randombs]

I was asked about Sean the Sheep as well. Tried to segue the conversation to Wallace & Grommet but no dice.

[Yakumo]

Hey Darwock, I met someone who worked at NHK yesterday and he was stunned that I knew of Hana-Kappa. So I have you to thank for that. He was telling me Shaun the Sheep does very well there! That was a bit of a surprise.

I see Hana-Kappa ever single week day. It's on at 7:10 am and again at around 5:10 pm. Two shows are shown back to back and the afternoon shows are the same as the morning shows. The only reason I see them is because my kid watches them.

The Shawn the Sheep episodes are shown on a Saturday morning around 10am. They're about 6 months behind the UK releases but they do show 2 shows back to back. Again, I only see them because of my son. He also watches Curious George.

[Dogg Thang]

The only reason I see them is because my kid watches them.

Sure...

It looks like a ton of fun.

[Yakumo]

not to me. Japanese TV bores the **** out of me. It truly does. I watch much more UK stuff. Over the last two days I've watched
Wheeler Dealers
Celebrity Juice
Never Mind the Buzzcocks (Crap compared to how it once was but...)
Through the key hole
Have I got news for you
Gadget Man (it's pretty meh but I have it on)
Click
and a few others. Not one of those shows has a Japanese equivalent. In fact there are only about 5 types of shows on TV here just repeated and rehashed 24 hours a day. They are Anime (most of it is turd these days), News, Crappy Drama where the story is ALWAYS the same basic plot, panel show or talk show which always follow the same formula which is a font man or group talking crap, asking questions and maybe going for a walk down a street and eating something. And maybe a very dull game show or comedy due who also all have the same act.

Yep, that is Japanese TV. I've been here 16 years and the format has never changed. There's never been a car show, never been a tech show, never been a variety show that doesn't follow the same formula as ever other.

Yeah, I hate TV here but I am getting older and need to rant

[dave heats]

a front man or group talking crap, asking questions and maybe going for a walk down a street and eating something.

This sounds like truly sensational TV!

[kryss]

My gf was telling me how much she's realised she hates Japanese TV. I've offered to get her* a PS3 and give her the settings to watch Netflix but she declined. I used to watch all the crap on TV in Japan purely for practice as nothing was particularly complicated or difficult to understand.



*read as "future investment for self"

[randombs]

You need to watch Housou Daigaku(open university), then. Best channel on Japanese TV, hands down.

Just got our telly sorted this weekend and it's the first thing I put on.

[Anpanman]

Me and the wife agree Japanese TV has to be the worst in the developed world - certainly the non kid stuff. The adverts are also boring, basically all the same with some drama actor hawking the product e.g dressed up as a doctor selling some health supplements. The obasan's then buy in droves as they think the guy has some credibility.

News is also better here, you tend to get both sides of the story and plenty of testing stories for the government.

That said I watch a few of the drama's, agree with Yakumo that most of them follow the same formula but some are ok.

I do think that kids programming for the young ones though is very good, Anpanman and Inaiinaiba are much better than the kids rubbish we have here, certainly when our daughter was that age.

[Yakumo]

The only Kids stuff I like are Sazae-San and Chibimaruko. Not that I watch a lot of it though. There could be more.

[DeathAdder]

The only Japanese TV I like is the sumo.

I don't mind the game shows when they have normal people, not silly "tarento". Panel Attack on Sundays I can stand.

Used to like some parts of IQ Suppli, stupid tarento notwithstanding.

The rest of it is aimed at kids, puerile drivel, sports I don't care about or celebrities stuffing their faces with food only to utter "oishii!".

[kryss]

Yup, that's pretty much it. "umai!!"

The 5 minute short "Kotoba Ojiisan" on NHK my favourite. They take 5 minutes to talk about a different word in a particular prefecture's dialect. しとお？　＝　知ってる？ for example.

[speedlolita]

I think the underlying issue is that TV is terrible no matter where you are located.